OPINION: Staff evaluation is top priority for Mel Tucker, Michigan State at season’s end
Heading into the final week of the regular season, Michigan State has its back against the wall. After a dumbfounding loss on ‘Senior Day’ against Indiana, the Spartans need a win against Penn State to guarantee a bowl game in 2022.
In almost every postgame press conference this year, and particularly after a loss, head coach Mel Tucker has answered a question about what went wrong with a particular aspect of the game with, “I haven’t watched the film yet”.
That’s a wise answer before making any sweeping conclusions, but with 11 weeks of film to study from, Tucker has all the visual information he needs to determine what the next step for his program should be.
While the film only shows the players on the field, Tucker should be evaluating all of his coaches, as well as the scheme, and determine who’s worth keeping around and who needs to be shown the door this offseason.
Play-calling on both sides of the ball has been underwhelming at times throughout the season, and has stunted player development as well. Here’s what Tucker should be looking for on both sides of the football.
Offense
Jay Johnson is the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach for Michigan State. Johnson knew well in advance that Payton Thorne was going to be his starting quarterback, and Johnson’s job was to build off last season’s success and continue Thorne’s high level of production.
While Thorne has not played as bad as most in the fanbase would believe, the redshirt junior did not take a step forward as a second-year starter this season. Thorne has struggled to process what he’s seeing from opposing defenses, and he’s played through injures, especially early this season, which has hurt the team.
Johnson is also accountable for the offensive play-calling, which has been another big topic of discussion.
Michigan State has struggled with scoring droughts all season long, outside of the game against Akron. That led to the Spartans defeat against Indiana, as the offense scored 24 points in the first half, but only seven in the second half. This also cost MSU in the game against Maryland, in which Michigan State was held scoreless in the second half of a winnable game.
The Spartans’ lack of consistency on offense is a big issue and the reasons why it’s happened must be evaluated.
Effrem Reed was in his first year as MSU’s running backs coach, and had a tough task on his hands without superstar tailback Kenneth Walker III in the backfield. Michigan State’s lack of consistency on offense was mirrored by its running backs, who dominated in some games and disappeared in others.
I don’t think Reed’s job is in trouble, but he can learn a few lessons from this season. One specific area of improvement for Reed is finding a rotation of backs for each game situation and sticking to it.
Offensive line coach and running game coordinator Chris Kapalovic was a highly-touted guy coming in with Tucker from Colorado in 2020. Kapilovic’s job is not in danger, but the running game is not what we thought it would be this season. Michigan State utilized a mostly zone scheme run game this year, which worked against bad teams but not so much the better teams. I would have liked to have seen more gap scheme in the run game, which worked well against Wisconsin and Illinois.
Moving on, I think wide receivers coach Courtney Hawkins’ job is the safest of any of the position coaches. Wide receiver has been the best position group on the team, and we’ve seen the development of youngsters Keon Coleman and Germie Bernard alongside veterans Jayden Reed and Tre Mosley.
The issue this season has been getting the wide receivers the ball, which is on Thorne, the pass protection from the O-line and Johnson’s play-calling. Tight ends coach Ted Gilmore is in a similar situation. Daniel Barker, Maliq Carr and Tyler Hunt played well at times, but didn’t get as many opportunities due to the issues mentioned above.
Defense
The defensive line has been a staple for Michigan State for the last 15 years. There were some bright spots this season with Jacoby Windmon, Derrick Harmon and Avery Dunn, but as a unit this position group didn’t meet the program expectations.
Newly hired defensive line coach Marco Coleman still has a very young group, but needs to work on discipline. Opponents often easily found holes in the D-line, as the unit lacked gap integrity. Coleman and pass rush specialist Brandon Jordan have been two of Michigan State's better recruiters this season, so I wouldn't expect Tucker to consider any changes with those two guys.
Michigan State’s linebackers were coached by defensive coordinator Scottie Hazelton. The LBs improved over the course of the season, but weren’t always set up for success with Hazelton’s play-calling and scheme design. Similar to the defensive line, maintaining focus of their job is something the Spartan linebackers need to improve on.
Hazelton has come under the most fire of any of Tucker’s assistant coaches, and his job status in East Lansing will be watched closely when the season comes to an end. Most of the fanbase wants Hazelton gone, but Tucker has not publicly indicated that a change is coming at defensive coordinator.
Outside of Hazelton, the biggest talking point on this side of the ball has been Michigan State’s defensive backs. Coached by Tucker and Harlon Barnett, the Spartan DBs have taken steps forward, but still are not where they need to be.
When senior safety Xavier Henderson was out with injury, the defense looked lost. The Spartans are going to be tasked with finding a new leader in the defensive backfield next season without Henderson. Freshman safety Malik Spencer has been talked about highly by coaches and players, and could potentially be the player they’re looking for back there. Jaden Mangham and Dillon Tatum are two other young safeties who got a fair amount of snaps this season.
I expect Tucker to make room for another defensive backs coach this offseason so that he and Barnett aren’t carrying the load alone. After a season of not meeting expectations, I expect someone from the offensive staff to take the fall to open up a spot for a full-time cornerbacks coach.
Final Thoughts
Firing coaches is something Mark Dantonio didn’t do at the end of his tenure, which led to the regression of the program. If Michigan State’s season ends Saturday, I expect Tucker to make coaching changes by December, and the earlier the better.
With all of Dantonio’s former assistant coaches now gone, this would mean Tucker firing coaches that he hired at MSU. If that happens, it would show that Tucker is serious about having the best staff possible, regardless of the fact that he considers many of these guys as friends. Coaching is a tough business however, and the head coach needs to make the tough decisions that ultimately work towards the betterment of the program.
